Business Winners and Losers 2003

Dec. 30 -- The opening bell of the stock market finally stoppedsounding like a funeral chime in 2003, but that doesn't mean everyone was a winner.

Allegations of greedy behavior this year put many high-profilebusinesspeople on the hot seat — and on our list of losers. Among the winners, a few made the list not for their impressive portfolios but for their gumption in shaping the various business worlds where they dwell. Without further ado, here are the good, the bad and the unhappy for2003:

Losers

Dick Grasso: The scrappy chairman of the New York Stock Exchange became thetarget of a mob of investors and market watchers in August when they learned he had amassed $139.5 million in benefits and savings during his tenure at the NYSE — and he was cashing it in. Then it turned out he was due another $48 million in vested funds. Grasso defended his blue-chip payout by saying the exchange's board approved every nickel. He said he responded to his compensation every year with a simple "I'm blessed. Thank you." But by September, so many were calling for his head that he had to resign as the big boss of the Big Board. He hasn't been heard from since.

Dennis Kozlowski: The lavish lifestyle enjoyed by the former head of TycoInternational Ltd. went on display this year at Kozlowski's trial. Prosecutors allege he and the company's former financial chief fleeced the firm of about $600 million. Among the most eye-popping allegations: Kozlowski threw the most notorious toga party since Animal House, decorated his various homes like wings of the Louvre and bought his maid a $6,000 shower curtain — then allegedly stuck shareholders with most of the tab.